Sunday, 10 February 2013

Cthulhu Without Cthulhu

It is rare to see a release for Call of Cthulhu from PaganPublishing, and even rarer still to see a release from Pagan Publishing that is
not for Delta Green. So it is a pleasure to see Bumps in the Night, an
anthology of five scenarios for Call of Cthulhu. Yet this is collection is
rarer still – and for two reasons. First, it is a collection of non-Mythos
scenarios, and rather than drawing upon the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and his
acolytes, it takes as its inspiration the horror of the Americana and the
American Gothic to sometimes give a refreshing twist upon traditional horror.
Second, all five scenarios are penned by John H. Crowe III, the author of the
highly regarded campaigns, Walker in the Wastes and Realm of Shadows. Which as
a combination sets the expectations for Bumps in the Night more than a little
high.

All five scenarios are suitable for play as one-shots,
although one is a sequel to a scenario earlier in the book. At least two would
also work as prequel scenarios that could be run to introduce one or more
investigators, if not to the Mythos, then at least to the idea that there is
something outré out there… All five scenarios take place in the USA, though
with some effort upon the part of the Keeper, they could be set elsewhere and
possibly else when.

The quintet opens in 1915 with “The Westerfield Incident.”
Residents of Westerfield, located in the Adirondack Mountains of New York state,
have taken to locking their doors as they fear that the streets of their small
town are no longer safe. Three appalling murders have occurred in the past few
weeks, the victims having been discovered reduced to nothing but barely
identifiable gnawed bones. Local law enforcement believes that a wild animal to
be responsible and has placed a sizeable bounty on the head of the predatory
creature responsible. Enter the investigators, perhaps as townsfolk not only
attracted by the bounty, but gone vigilante to protect their fellow
Westerfielders; as county sheriff’s deputies brought into deal with a predator
gone rogue; or perhaps even as parapsychologists attracted to the strangeness
of the murders.

Much of the pleasure of “The Westerfield Incident” comes from
the radically restrained investigative process, the sources of information here
in the main not being books and newspapers, but rather local knowledge and
gossip. There is a pleasing use of the word of the mouth throughout before the
identity of the predator responsible is revealed, this exacerbating the
challenge of the scenario in particular if the investigators are not local. As
to the predator itself, it is a traditional creature, but provides a refreshing
challenge to the players. Given its earlier and mostly isolated setting, “The
Westerfield Incident” also works as a good prequel for investigators that will
come to be involved in the major Mythos events of the 1920s.

The sense of isolation and constraint continues with the
second scenario, “The Vengeful Dead,” which is very much a more traditional
horror scenario. The investigators are on holiday, taking a vacation at the
rustic retreat of the Grandview Lodge in Virginia. With its numerous outdoor
activities – camping, croquet, fishing, hiking, hunting, riding, skeet
shooting, swimming, and tennis – this is the chance for the investigators to
rest and recuperate, perhaps after some unhealthy investigation into the
unknown. Unfortunately, harboured amongst the staff and the guests is a killer
whose unwholesome efforts will have consequences for everyone at the Grandview
Lodge.

Given the current popularity of its monsters, “The Vengeful
Dead” has the feel of a traditional horror movie. It is not all set in stone
though, as it is up to the Keeper to decide the identity of the killer from the
array of well-drawn NPCs. Further, the Keeper is given room to add the
paranormal to the scenario, retroactively prefiguring Pagan Publishing’s
non-Mythos, paranormal campaign, Coming Full Circle. There is a certain
cosiness to “The Vengeful Dead,” almost like that of a traditional murder
mystery set at a country house, but unlike that genre, this scenario is never
going to end in a “Tell me Inspector, what I don’t understand is…” moment
following its one woeful night.

“The Vengeful Dead” is followed by sequel, “The Bitter Venom
of the Gods,” which takes place a roughly a year later and is firmly rooted in
the American Gothic. Its set up is more complex though. One of the survivors
from “The Vengeful Dead” has accepted the marriage proposal from one Robert
Gallery and has even gone so far as to move in with his family in preparation
for the marriage. This was of course with a chaperone so as to avoid a scandal,
but now she has decided to break off the engagement and wants a friend to go
with her to collect some belongings from the Gallery family seat. The friend is
there to see her enter, but he does not see her come back out…

“The Bitter Venom of the Gods” is a dense affair, rife with
clues, and populated with a gallery of seemingly genial grotesques as well as
the actual grotesques. In comparison with the previous scenarios, this is much
more of a challenge for the Keeper to run and makes more demands of the players.

The fourth scenario, “Curse of the Screaming Skull,”
presents an interesting challenge to the antiquarian and paranormal
investigators. They are hired to examine the estate of the late Jacob
Withering, an inveterate collector of oddities and curiosities who turned his
home into his personal museum. His nephew, John, stands to inherit a great deal
of money from his uncle, but only if he maintains his uncle’s house and keeps
his collection intact. The collection also needs to be catalogued, but strange
events have already driven off one archivist and the current cataloguers are
already complaining of odd incidents.

As a haunted house scenario, “Curse of the Screaming Skull”
is probably the most traditional of the five scenarios in Bumps in the Night.
This is not to denigrate it in any way as it is a worthy addition to the
sub-genre; and as an addition to the anthology, it presents a satisfying change
of pace in comparison to the other scenarios. Not only is almost languorous in
feel, the pacing remaining firmly in the Keeper’s hands rather than with the
scenario itself, but the solution to the scenario deliberately flys in the face
of player tendencies, there being strong social penalties if they make the
wrong choice. In addition to being a well done haunted house scenario, “Curse
of the Screaming Skull” is set in Vermont which places it on the border with
Lovecraft Country. Thus the scenario makes a suitable excursion from that
mouldering corner of New England, and it would also work as fitting addition to
Jeffrey Moeller’s Monograph, The Primal State.

Whereas the previous four scenarios had no particular
requirements in terms of the player characters needed, the fifth and last
scenario makes specific demands. “An Unsettled Mind” is firmly set in Baltimore
and casts the investigators as death investigators – homicide detectives and
coroner’s personnel – with the Baltimore Police Department. They are tasked to
investigate violent and suspicious deaths, in this instance, a fatal car crash.
“An Unsettled Mind” is the most modern of the quintet in Bumps in the Night,
not just because it a police procedural, but also because it has the feel of an
episode of The X-Files. Despite the emphasis on the police procedural, the
heart of “An Unsettled Mind” is a moral dilemma that will challenge both the
player characters and the players.

The strict requirements of “An Unsettled Mind” make it
better suited to play as a one-shot than the other four scenarios in Bumps in
the Night. It is the least flexible of the five, and perhaps as a one-shot
would have benefited from some pre-generated investigators or some guidance as
to creating them. Otherwise, a good one-night one-shot.

Physically, Bumps in the Night is succinctly produced. The
layout is clean and tidy, the artwork and the cartography are both excellent. The
handouts in particular, are well done and feel in keeping with the periods that
the adventures are set in. Overall, this is a book with character, one that is
up to Pagan Publishing’s usual standards. If the scenarios lack anything it is
the inclusion of playtest notes, only one scenario does when all four would
have benefited from the inclusion of such information.

Although Bumps in the Night is not a Call of
Cthulhu book as such, but rather a book for use with Call of Cthulhu, it is
without a doubt the best book published for Call of Cthulhu in 2012. Each of
its five scenarios is well crafted and comes with detail, nicely judged plots,
and red herrings aplenty. Of course, it is a pity that Bumps in the Night is
not more widely available – it was brought to print via Kickstarter and has not entered distribution outside of the USA and Canada, but hopefully, Pagan Publishing will rectify this.
Ultimately, Bumps in the Night is further proof that Pagan Publishing can
provide great support for the game, even when not involving the Mythos.

For Your Information

A gamer for over thirty-five years, Pookie has been reviewing games and saying mostly nice things about them for ten of them. His reviews have appeared in Steve Jackson Games' Pyramid and Journal of the Traveller's Aid Society, Campaign Magazine, Games International, The Unspeakable Oath, at OgreCave.com, and elsewhere. Currently they appear regularly at Reviews from R'lyeh.

He has edited titles for Triple Ace Games for the Sundered Skies setting; for Goodman Games' Age of Cthulhu line; for Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay; for Call of Cthulhu from SixtyStone Press; and various others.

Other facts about Pookie:

He is English.He likes tea.

He has been known as Pookie since he was seven.The nickname has nothing whatsoever to do with small bears and is more leptoidal in nature.The Klingon in him is fond of prunes.